At the hearing held by the Istanbul 33rd High Criminal Court in the hall opposite the Marmara Closed Penal Institution, the defendant Deniz Dörtyol, who was not detained, made his defense.
Dörtyol stated that he works in the advertising industry and explained that they provided advertising services with election visuals in all of the outdoor advertising areas they rented during the 2019 election process.
"WE HAD TO PAY ALL THE INVOICES ISSUE BY KÜLTÜR AŞ."
Dörtyol claimed that the advertising areas of his companies were dismantled by the municipal police after the change of the IMM management and used the following statements:
"Shortly after the election was concluded and the current IMM management changed hands, our advertising areas, which were entirely owned by our company, rented from private properties and in accordance with the permissions of the IMM, were dismantled by the police overnight. After the areas were dismantled, Salih Subaşı, who provides outdoor advertising services in the market under the name of Kültür AŞ, contacted me. We were told that if we wanted to use the existing advertising areas, we had to pay them. We did not accept and met with Kültür AŞ. There, İlknur Kaya and Serdal Taşkın "We were told that they would not allow the use of advertising spaces belonging to our company, and that if I wanted to use them, we had to pay the invoices issued by Kültür AŞ. We had to accept this in order to continue our commercial life. We had to pay all the invoices issued by Kültür AŞ between 2019 and 2021. Despite this, some of our advertising areas were not allowed to be used again."
After 2021, the permit processes for advertising areas will be carried out through Medya AŞ through E.G. Dörtyol, who stated that they carried out the process by communicating with , claimed that they conveyed their requests regarding advertising areas to E.G., who in turn conveyed these requests to Murat Ongun, and claimed that they had to pay the determined fees in return for the permissions, but in some cases, permissions were not arbitrarily granted.
"I WAS FORCED TO STAY IN THIS SYSTEM DUE TO VERY HEAVY CONTRACTS"
Dörtyol stated that Emrah Bağdatlı contacted him in 2024 and they had their first meeting via WhatsApp on January 3, 2024, and said, "First, Emrah Bağdatlı introduced me to Barış Kılıç. I was told, 'First you will enter the tender, and when you receive it, you will do the job.' However, if the tenders were received later, the model we encountered was very different. By telling me about the tender procedures, I later learned that Emrah Bağdatlı's name was 'filing'." "This is how you will do things," they said. he said.
Explaining that he is involved in both legs of the system, which he claims is run through Kültür AŞ and Medya AŞ, Dörtyol said, "On the Kültür AŞ side, there are Murat Bey, Emrah Bağdatlı, Barış Kılıç, Güldem Şık, Metin Bal as the system persons."
Defendant Dörtyol claimed that the price information regarding the tenders was given to him in advance and said, "Metin Bal delivered me the working files containing all the tender prices a few days before the tender. They informed me that I had to enter the tender at these prices. Later, while I was waiting for news from Kültür AŞ to do active work, they informed me that I would only invoice the approved projects and that I should deliver the money coming to the company to the person and sub-agents they would direct. Even though I tried to oppose this situation, I was threatened. Very heavy contracts and penal penalties." "Due to the conditions, I was forced to stay in this system. At the end of each month, Metin Bal would send me a list to invoice me and the official supplier payment in return for this invoice. I ensured that the remaining money was delivered to other places directed by Emrah Bağdatlı, Özge Bağdatlı and Güldem Şık." he said.
"HE ALWAYS INFORMS ME VIA WHATSAPP WHICH TENDERS TO BID FOR"
Dörtyol said, "Medya AŞ side system persons are Murat Ongun, Emrah Bağdatlı, Fatoş Pınar Türker, Sibel Karakurt, Fatoş Ayık. For this side, Emrah Bağdatlı directed me to Fatoş Ayık. I have never met him face to face, I have never been to Medya AŞ. We always communicated via WhatsApp. Fatoş Ayık always informs me on WhatsApp which tenders to bid on, and I respond accordingly. I was doing it." he said.
Dörtyol stated that he met with Özge Bağdatlı in Kadıköy on March 9, 2025, and that during this meeting, he had an online conversation with Emrah Bağdatlı from Özge Bağdatlı's phone, and said, "In my phone conversation with Emrah Bağdatlı, I said, 'Imagine that we are going to set foot in Samsun with the Bandırma Ferry. We will suffer a lot during this time, but then we will declare the Republic. I want you to be very careful during this period. If you follow my instructions exactly, you will not suffer any losses during this period. After declaring the Republic from the beginning, those who are with Ekrem İmamoğlu and Murat Ongun will be happy.' he said. If I am detained, my own lawyers, lawyer S.G. and Y.K. "He instructed me not to meet anyone other than A." he said.
Explaining that they communicated via Telegram after Emrah Bağdatlı escaped abroad, Dörtyol said, "The person registered as Samuel Boston is Emrah Bağdatlı. After he escaped abroad, he took names such as Sam Boston, Samuel Boston, Samuel, Boston, S Boston. We carried out a correspondence or telephone traffic on those names." he said.
Dörtyol completed his statement with the following words:
"I must emphasize that I was forced into this system, this organization. I did not gain any financial gain. If I did not carry out these actions, I always received a response. Our advertising areas were destroyed, our work was disrupted. I must emphasize again that, while there was no legal action against me or under custody, I went and told the prosecutor's office everything I knew. I tried to present all the documents and evidence I had in order for the truth to be revealed. I did not have any intention of committing a crime, and since I was forced to take these actions, it was my priority. "As for my acquittal, I respectfully request that even if your court thinks otherwise, it will not impose a penalty on me, taking into account the information I have given."
During the hearings, the defense of a total of 323 undetained defendants was completed. The hearing was postponed to Monday to continue taking the defense statements of the defendants who were not detained.
